Poetry for good

A poster that sucks car pollution from the air.

Billboards. Who knew they could do more than distract you from driving? We’ve seen billboards that create potable water from air, but now meet the next generation of do-good roadside boards: ones that turn pollution from cars into clean air. This installation, by author Simon Armitage, was constructed with the help of some scientists who figured out how to turn the writer’s poem “In Praise of Air” into a helpful resource. They coated the billboard material with titanium dioxide, which is used to eat up pollution and purify the air. It’s also said to be able to remove the pollution emitted from 20 cars each day. Now that’s a breathe of fresh air.